European Ministers Seek $261 Billion In IMF Crisis Funds (Bloomberg)
Euro-area finance ministers will hold a conference call at 3:30 p.m. Brussels time to discuss 200 billion euros ($261 billion) in additional funding through the International Monetary Fund and the mechanics of a so-called fiscal compact that was negotiated at a Dec. 9 European Union summit, according to two people familiar with the planning. “They’ll try to get as much done as they can before Christmas, but it’s doubtful they’ll put markets in a Christmas mood,” Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Group in Brussels, said in an interview. “There is still so much uncertainty.”

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il Is Dead (WSJ)
Mr. Kim died on Saturday of a heart attack while on a train, North Korea’s state media said. A television news announcer, dressed in black and her voice quivering with emotion, said Monday the nation would unite behind Kim Jong Il’s third son, Kim Jong Eun, as North Korea’s new leader.

ECB President Draghi Warns on Euro Zone Break-Up (FT)
In his first interview since becoming ECB president on November 1, Mr Draghi said struggling eurozone countries that quit the currency bloc would face still greater economic pain. For remaining members, European Union law would have been broken and “you never know how it ends really,” he said. Countries that left and devalued their currency would create “a big inflation” and fail to escape from structural reforms that would still have to be implemented “but in a much weaker position,” Mr Draghi told the Financial Times.

Prince Alwaleed Invests $300M in Twitter (Bloomberg)
Alwaleed, ranked the richest Arab businessman this year by Arabian Business magazine, and his investment company agreed to buy a “strategic stake,” Kingdom Holding said today. Alwaleed is the largest individual investor in Citigroup Inc. (C) and his other investments include holdings in Apple Inc. and General Motors Co. Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding jumped as much as 8.9 percent on the local exchange.

RBS Considering Closure Of Equities Business (Bloomberg, earlier)
Shutting or selling the division, including U.K. stockbroker Hoare Govett, are among the options being considered by the bank’s board, though no final decision has been made yet, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions aren’t complete. An announcement is expected by the time the bank reports full-year earnings at the end of February, the people said. The equities unit employs about 1,000 people.

‘Occupy’ guys, including bishop, arrested in new anniversary protest (NYP)
Cops busted at least 35 protesters yesterday after they broke into a private park in Manhattan to mark the three-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. The marchers also shattered the window of a Starbucks on the corner of Varick and Spring Streets with a brick as they marched uptown…Among those arrested were Bishop George Packard, a former chaplain for the armed services and decorated Vietnam veteran who has acted as the liaison in negotiations between Trinity Church and protesters as the movement had sought permission to use the church owned property as a new base of operations. Continue reading »

Corzine Knew Of Fund Transfer (WSJ)
Former MF Global Holdings Ltd. Chief Executive Jon S. Corzine testified Thursday that he knew about an overseas transfer of funds that has come into focus in recent days as regulators and Congress seek to find out what became of an estimated $1.2 billion in missing customer cash. Mr. Corzine testified, however, that he received assurances that the transfer of millions of dollars to a J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. account in London on Oct. 28, the last business day before MF Global filed for bankruptcy, was approved by at least one official in MF’s back office. “The back office in Chicago explicitly confirmed to me that the funds were properly transferred, and I understood that J.P. Morgan Chase was satisfied,” Mr. Corzine said, adding that he believed some of the confirmations were in writing.

BofA, Goldman, Barclays Have Fitch Ratings Cut (Bloomberg)
The lenders’ long-term issuer default ratings were cut one level to A from A+, Fitch said yesterday in a statement. Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and BNP Paribas SA also had their grades lowered…“It’s hard to take anything positive from this; it speaks to the sentiment overall on global financial firms right now,” said Michael Nix, who helps manage about $925 million at Greenwood, South Carolina-based Greenwood Capital Inc., including Morgan Stanley (MS) shares. “It also validates what the other raters have already done, and to an extent was expected.”

Italy Government Wins Confidence Vote on Austerity (Reuters)
Italy’s government easily won a confidence vote on its tough austerity package on Friday, the first step in parliamentary approval for sweeping measures aimed at saving the euro zone’s third-largest economy from financial disaster. The Chamber of Deputies approved the 33-billion euro ($43 billion) package, which affects everything from pensions to home ownership taxes, by 495 votes to 88. The plan, contested by Italy’s unions and the opposition Northern League, has been in effect since Monti’s government approved it on December 4. But it needed full parliamentary approval within 60 days to remain in force.

Europe’s Crisis May Hold Seeds of Dealmaking (Bloomberg)
“There are well-positioned acquirers globally looking for bargains,” even if economic pressure has slowed recent European dealmaking, said Gregg Lemkau, head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) “One of the drivers in Europe has been historically low valuations and a relatively soft currency.”

Congress Blinks On Shutdown (WSJ)
Congressional leaders—fearful of voters’ wrath over Washington’s bickering and brinkmanship—stepped back Thursday from a possible government shutdown, clearing the way for at least a short-term extension of a payroll tax cut that is set to expire at year’s end.

Regulators Sanction Citi Japan (WSJ)
In a sign of increasing frustration with Citi Japan—which has been sanctioned three times for a range of improper activities since 2004—Japan’s Financial Services Agency slammed the bank’s repeated lack of compliance and its business model, demanding that Citi Japan submit a business improvement plan by Jan. 31.

SEC Sues Former Freddie Mac Chief Executive Richard Syron in New York (Bloomberg)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued former Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer Richard Syron in New York.

Christian Bale Attacked by Chinese Guards (NYT)
The actor Christian Bale was assaulted by government-backed guards on Thursday when he tried to visit a blind lawyer who has been illegally confined to his home in eastern Shandong Province. The lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, has emerged as a cause célèbre among the country’s rights advocates, dozens of whom have been similarly roughed up when they tried to break through the cordon that local officials have placed around Mr. Chen’s village…The footage of Mr. Bale’s attempted visit is dramatic. In it, he is seen pleading with the men who guard Dongshigu’s entry points and then retreating as they push and punch him. “Why can I not visit this free man?” he asks repeatedly. The men, dressed in thick green winter coats respond with shouts of “Go away.” Even after they have retreated into their car, the group, which included a translator, was chased for 40 minutes by men in a gray van. Continue reading »